Rasika Dugal: All an actor wants is good work...

When Nandita Das' Manto went to the Cannes Festival where it premiered earlier this week, much praise came the way of Nawazuddin Siddiqui who reprises the title role. However, almost everyone who has seen the film cannot stop raving about Rasika Dugal, 33, who plays Manto's wife Safia. "The film follows the four years when Manto struggled to reconcile to the idea of Partition," Dugal says about the film, "Though he continued to write, alcohol was taking him on a downward spiral and it was Safia who stood by him."

She remembers the special feeling as she watched Manto with an audience as discerning as the one at Cannes. "The Un Certain Regard Jury this year was headed by (Oscar-winning actor) Benicio Del Toro. It was a lovely feeling to see my work being watched by those I look up to," says Dugal.

But Dugal has been looked up to for her craft right from her plays The Vagina Monologues and Dastangoi. Long before her recent prolific outing on the big screen, she had made her presence felt in the Indo-German Irrfan Khan starrer Punjabi drama Qissa. Since then, she's forayed into every form of entertainment platform. Her short film – Chutney won several awards, she was a crucial character on Nikhil Advani's TV debut POW and made her web series debut with Humorously Yours. She will also be seen in Hamid, set in Kashmir, Mahatma with Sanjay Mishra and also Amazon Prime's next digital series, Mirzapur with Ali Fazal and Pankaj Tripathi. "The last two years have been very hectic," she says and laughs. "Finally, from being someone who is looking for work I get to be really busy." She says being cast for Manto worked like a lucky charm and lots of work began coming her way. "This flurry of activity is still new to me. Contracts are being signed, costumes, styling and looks are being worked out, and in the middle of it all one has to find time to prepare for the role. But I am very happy. I call these the 'good problems' to face as opposed to not having work. I have seen that happen for nearly 20 years at the beginning of my career."

According to her, the landscape of the film industry is changing rapidly and it keeps going through phases. "This dictates what films get made and who gets to play a part. So I'm not holding it against anyone personally," she says and clarifies, "I never came to the industry thinking this is going to be a smooth ride. And from the time I entered it in 2008, I've seen producers coming forward to fund even the small indies." Dugal adds that she's glad she came into the industry when she did. "Even until a decade ago, the star system was so strong that the same 20 people were getting the 10 films being made every year."

She also remembers the uncertainties during her struggling phase. "When you don't get work, nobody comes to tell you why. There are lots of prejudices that come into play while being cast. This is because of other factors like an actor's looks and what the writer has in mind. Sometimes you fall into that vision and sometimes you don't."

She feels it is not only about looks anymore and if one does not have talent, work stops coming your way. "This happens even with mainstream cinema in a big way where big money is involved and everyone wants to recover it and make some profit. Look at Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone. They are big stars because they bring acting chops to the table."

But this is something she learnt early on while working on Qissa. "I knew that iss film agar mein ne thoda bhi ganda kaam kiya toh woh bahut hee ganda lagega (...in this film if I did a bad job, it would look really bad) because everyone was doing such great work."

Dugal doesn't mind playing mainstream roles because she doesn't think of them as being different or lesser. "In the Alps in a chiffon sari, though I feel very very cold," she laughs. But she has mostly been offered work which is largely not mainstream. "Today, when the boundaries are blurred between mainstream and non-mainstream, I think all an actor wants is good work."

But she will not turn down a role if she disagrees with the film's politics. "It is not necessary for the character's politics to match mine. In fact, it's so much more challenging when it is not. Like this character I play of a Kashmiri woman whose husband is missing in Hamid."

Though she believes in taking a stand on issues, she feels she wants her choice of work to do it. "I'm more of the type who'll make a point gently. I'm not interested in fighting, but dialogue. I don't like to be pushed into screaming about an issue. I don't want to be adding to the polarisation."

Perhaps, that's the reason she joined Cate Blanchett and 81 other well-known women from cinema (including veteran actress Jane Fonda, filmmaker Ava Duvernay, jury member Kristen Stewart and actress Salma Hayek) to silently protest at Cannes against gender inequality.